RTA Board of Directors approve design of new headquarters

The building will be constructed in Al Garhoud at the intersection of Marrakesh and Al Rabat streets.

H.E Mattar Al Tayer said that the RTA headquarters project will be one of the pioneering projects, which will be surrounded by a lake that will reflect the image of the building and special facilities will be implemented to elevate it from the land level which will showcase the building to be afloat on the water, while in the evening spotlight reflections from the building and from the cars across the surrounding bridges and streets will give a superb architectural image of Dubai at night.

The building was designed to ensure 20% of electricity energy used to cool down the internal spaces will be saved.

The basic facade of the building will have giant screens at a height of 20 storeys. The ideology of the structure has been adapted from the RTA logo.

H.E Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA added that the winning design was selected from among 18 designs presented by international companies from Europe, America and Asia and selected the design that was presented by "Zwarts & Jansma Architects" Dutch Company, which is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands capital.

The RTA's new building will consist of 22 storeys including 19 floors and three basement storeys for services. He pointed out that office space for the building will be approximately 20,200 square meters, in addition to the main reception which will cover an area of 500 square meters, and customer service area in 7000 square meters, while the central control room will accommodate 2000 square meters, and the staff parking area is an estimated area of about 23,000 square meters.

The RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director said that the building includes a large auditorium to govern and control the traffic movement along streets, bridges, the metro, public transport buses, taxis, Abras, etc, stressing that this room would be the first of its kind in the Middle East in terms of size and techniques used and the holistic services provided by the various means of transport in the emirate. It will be connected with branch control rooms and metro stations for the integration of the different modes of transport in Dubai.

He added that the design of the building will be characterized with changeable facades according to the angle of visibility. The image on the building would differ when viewed from the Creek and would look different when viewed from the airport. Giant screens will also be fixed on the building fronts to transfer guidelines messages to the drivers from a distance.

He pointed out that the building includes parking accommodation for more than 850 cars, divided into three basement levels, and this will operate with the intelligent system to prevent congestion at the entrances and exits. The concourse would also comprise of the customer service center in addition to control center. Special car parking will be constructed adjacent to the building for clients and the building will also include eight elevators, three of which operate with quick transport.